Question 4:
I wanted to follow up on your sermon from Oct. 11, "Knowing Love."  In particular, I was curious about some things you said about heaven.  During your sermon I was reflecting on my middle school days in San Diego, when every year I would go with my youth group to Biola U and hear Dawson McAllister speak.  One year he started talking about the various crowns that one receives when he goes to heaven, depending on the sort of life that one has lived.  I was fired up about it at the time but gradually cooled off on it as it struck me more and more as a consumerism-based message.  Basically, I preferred to think of heaven as a more egalitarian place, where there is something like a pass/fail test to see whether or not we make it in.   That seemed to be the message I heard you saying as well - that when we die, we're in or we're out - that simple.  But 2 Corinthians 5:10 muddied the waters for me and reopened up my thoughts from middle school, albeit from a different perspective.  To get to the point: what does it mean when the verse talks about receiving "what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad"? (from TN, a Gringo serving here in Guatemala).

Response:
Wow, can't you write a simpler question? jajajaja

Regarding the 2 Corinthians 5 verse, it refers to the evaluation and accountability that we as Christians will experience when we enter Heaven. There are several places throughout the Bible where God says  "How you live your life here on earth does make a difference; there is a day where we give account". It has nothing to do with getting INTO Heaven; it is an accounting only for those who already entered it. This is similar to the McAllister teaching in that there does seem to be value-added to our experience in Heaven based on our life lived on behalf of God and others in love down here. Someone explained it to me this way:we are like diamonds in the rough. Every good work we do here on earth chips another facet into our diamond. The more good we do in Jesus' name, the more we are able to reflect God's light through many facets down through eternity.

I hope this helps!